EU Blue Card in Portugal

You need a work contract or promise of contract for a highly qualified activity lasting at least six months, with an annual salary of at least 1.5 times the national average gross annual salary, or at least 1.2 times for the shortage occupations referred to in article 61-A(2). For an unregulated profession you prove high professional qualifications in the sector of the contract; for a regulated one, the professional certification.

Some people cannot receive a Blue Card, including applicants for or beneficiaries of temporary or international protection, family members of EU citizens under free movement rules, holders of a research permit under article 90(1), and people in Portugal temporarily as seasonal or posted workers or for investment-related trade.

The residence visa costs EUR 110. AIMA charges EUR 169.20 to receive and analyse a Blue Card request and EUR 160.50 to grant or renew it, or EUR 354.30 for issuing it with a waiver of the consular visa (in-person rates; 25% less online).

From abroad you first obtain a residence visa for highly qualified activity at the Portuguese embassy or consulate responsible for your place of legal residence. In Portugal the Blue Card request is lodged at AIMA by appointment, either by you or by your employer; you must attend for biometrics. AIMA asks for the passport, residence visa, address declaration, tax and Social Security registration, an authenticated criminal record, the contract and health insurance or NHS coverage.

A person who has held a Blue Card in another EU state for at least 18 months can move to Portugal for highly qualified work with their family and must apply within 30 days of entering.

Blue Card holders can obtain EU long-term resident status if they meet the conditions of article 121-I of the Foreigners Law; that status is permanent, with a residence card valid at least five years.

Lei 61/2025 exempts family members of Blue Card holders from the two-year residence requirement for family reunification, so your spouse and children can apply as soon as you hold the card.

A refused national visa can be challenged by a complaint to the consulate within 15 days, a hierarchical appeal to the Minister of Foreign Affairs within three months, or an action before the Administrative Court of Lisbon within three months. The routes are not mutually exclusive, and each appeal procedure costs EUR 75 (except for visas following a family reunification approval). Since Lei 61/2025, a visa is also refused to anyone who entered or stayed in Portugal illegally and is subject to an entry ban.